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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Iran want's to criticize the latest U.S. sanctions and talk violating the "spirit of the Nuclear talk's ," but what about the spirit of their people ? What about their human rights, stabbings, acid throwing on women ? What about Justice, or the arrest of suspect (s) of such nasty crimes? Iran must take their Government a step further , make the world respect them . They must start with some basic human right's laws .

Iran criticized the latest U.S. sanctions on nine targets who Washington says have helped Tehran avoid existing sanctions or commit human rights abuses, saying they contravened the spirit of international talks on Iran's nuclear programme.

The new targets include five individuals and one entity suspected of assisting the Iranian government to buy or acquire U.S. currency, and two companies linked to human rights violations.

Iran said the U.S. move contradicted the spirit of the nuclear talks between Iran and the six powers known as "P5+1" - the United States, France, Germany, Russia, China and Britain.

"At a time negotiations are underway with P5+1, such a move raises doubts about America's intentions and violates the good will principles," foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

"This action is for mere publicity and will have no bearing whatsoever on our commercial policies," she added.

Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said Tuesday's move was part of efforts to enforce the existing sanctions regime and the United States did not support imposing new nuclear-related sanctions.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who leads the country's nuclear negotiating team, said on Tuesday low-level talks on its nuclear activities would resume in Geneva on Jan 15, with wide gaps remaining in their positions.

Iran says its program is peaceful; the West fears it may lead to developing nuclear weapons. Zarif has repeatedly urged the United States and its Western European allies to drop "unrealistic" demands to make it possible for the 12-year dispute to be resolved.

The "P5+1" reached a preliminary agreement with Iran last year for it to suspend its most sensitive nuclear activity. Western countries in turn eased some economic sanctions.

The two sides failed for a second time last month to meet a self-imposed deadline for ending the standoff. A preliminary accord was extended until June 30.

Critically ill Ali Moezi, 63, a former prisoner of the 80’s, arrested in 2008 for visiting his two daughters in Camp Ashraf and spent 2 years in prison.

Mr Moezi was arrested once again in June 2011 for attending the funeral of a political prisoner supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) who had died in prison due to being denied access to medical care.

The authorities have told Ali Moezi that they intend to bring new bogus charges against him to prevent his release after the end of his sentence period.

On numerous occasions, agents of Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) have told Mr. Moezi: “We will torture you to death in prison and you should not get out of prison alive.”

Mr. Moezi has refused to attend the regime’s courts that he considers unjust and all the past sentences have been issued without him being present.

Iranian Resistance repeatedly has called on human right organizations, particularly the UN High Commissioner for Human Right to take urgent measures to save Mr. Moezi.

ISIS has claimed the killing of a senior Iranian officer advising Iraqi forces in their fight against the jihadists, in posts on jihadist Internet forums on Monday.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Sunday announced the death of Brigadier General Hamid Taghavi, who had been training the army and Iraqi volunteers in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad.

One jihadist forum posted an image of the officer standing next to three others, with a red circle around his head and the caption: “A photo of the miscreant Hamid Taghavi who was killed by the men of ISIS in the region of Samarra.”

Another image on the forum purportedly showed the body of the Iranian officer.

ISIS has not said how Taghavi died, but his funeral was held in Tehran on Monday in the presence of several senior officials.

“If people like the martyr Taghavi were not engaged in Syria and Iraq against the terrorists, the enemy would surely look to create insecurity in our country,” Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani told mourners, the official Fars news agency reported.

Shiite Iran has sent military advisers to Iraq to help train and equip troops and allied militias in their counter-offensive against ISIS, which seized large areas of the country in a lightning June assault.

It has also armed Kurdish forces in northern Iraq and Iranian media have reported the deaths of several military personnel in both Iraq and Syria this year.

Iranian Defense Minister General Hossein Dehgan on Monday underscored his country’s support for Iraq, during talks in Tehran with his Iraqi counterpart Khaled al-Obeidi.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s support for the army and military forces of Iraq is a strategic policy,” he said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Tehran is “ready to develop military cooperation with Iraq in order to boost its defensive capacity,” he added.

IRNA said Obeidi also insisted on the “strategic” cooperation between the two neighbors and urged Iran to step up its assistance to Baghdad to fight “terrorism and corruption.”

Iran did not join a U.S.-led coalition conducting air strikes against IS positions in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Samarra, 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Baghdad, is a mainly Sunni city but also home to the Askari shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.

Several Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, have declared the preservation of Iraqi Shiite sites a “red line.”

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham who is expected to take over as chairman of the Foreign Appropriations Subcommittee when the Republicans take control of the Senate in January, said that the Senate will vote on an Iran sanctions bill next month.

Graham said on Saturday in a press conference in Jerusalem: “In January of next year, there will be a vote on the Kirk-Menendez bill, bipartisan sanction legislation that says, if Iran walks away from the table, sanctions will be reimposed. If Iran cheats regarding any deal that we enter to the Iranians, sanctions will be reimposed.”

U.S. sanctions currently in place target energy and banking sectors in Iran, as well as any trade that might benefit its nuclear enterprise.

“The last time the international community tried to control a rogue regime’s nuclear ambitions, it resulted in a nuclear armed North Korea. What started as a small enrichment capability to be monitored by the United Nations, resulted in multiple nuclear weapons being procured by one of the most dangerous regimes in the world — North Korea.”

Senator Graham said he fears that “if a deal was done between the P5+1 that allows an enrichment capability to be given to the Ayatollahs in Iran, that we will suffer the same fate.”

In an interview with CNN aired on Sunday he said: “I would like to end the nuclear ambitions of the Iranians peacefully, but the deal needs to be looked at and approved by Congress. They have been trying to develop a nuclear weapon, not a peaceful nuclear power program. And of all of the things that could throw the world into more chaos than exists today, it would be a bad deal regarding the Iranian nuclear ambitions.”

Congress calls on US Government to probe use of American weapons and training in killing of members of Iranian opposition, PMOI (MEK). in Iraq

An act approved by the United States Congress and Senate calling for the protection and security of the residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq has been signed by President Barack Obama.

The government spending bill signed into law on December 16 calls on the US government to demand congressional committee reports detailing the steps taken to address the plight of and resettlement needs of Iranian dissidents at Camp Liberty.

It states: "Not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of other relevant United States Government agencies, shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees detailing steps taken by the United States Government to address the plight, including resettlement needs, of Iranian dissidents located at Camp Liberty/Hurriya in Iraq."

A supplementary report to Budget Act adds: "The Committee directs the Secretary of State to include in the report on the resettlement plan for Iranian dissidents required by section 7041(c)(6) of this act: a description of measures taken to improve the security and welfare (including quality of life and access to medical care) of residents at Camp Liberty.

"An analysis of attacks against such dissidents since February 2009, including whether any weapons or training provided by the United States were used in the attacks, and safeguards to ensure that no such weapons or training are used in the future.

"And options for the resettlement of Iranian dissidents outside Iraq, including in the United States."

Based on legislative procedure the budget bill is reviewed by appropriations committees in the House and the Senate. Subsequent to approval at both chambers, it will be adjusted in the conference committee before being presented to the president for signing it into law.

This is the first time that an Act signed by the U.S. President explicitly supports protection of Camp Liberty residents that include members of the Iranian opposition the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

The approval represents a very long path from the 1997 terrorist labeling of the PMOI to 2014 approval of a bill in support of the Camp Liberty residents. The Iranian Resistance has been able to make headways despite all of conspiracies and silence and turn the support for Liberty to a law in the U.S.

The legislation is a warning to the U.S. government to uphold its responsibilities regarding the residents of Camp Liberty and increase pressure on the Government of Iraq to respect the rights of the camp’s residents.

The legislation is also a warning to the Government of Iraq that should reduce the violation of the rights of the PMOI members in Camp Liberty and to end jeopardizing their security, particularly at a time when the current government of Iraq is more reliant to U.S. and E.U. than Nouri al-Maliki.This legislation also illuminates the status of the Iranian Resistance and their supporters in the United States and Europe and their impact.

Three factors contributed to this achievement: The perseverance and steadfastness of the PMOI members in Ashraf and Liberty in the past few years, unrelenting endeavors of members and supporters of the resistance in the US ,and concerted bipartisan efforts of the US senators and congressmen, political dignitaries, and former senior officials of the Obama, Bush, Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Regan administrations in support of Iranian Resistance and residents of Camp Liberty.

Monday, December 29, 2014

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- A rare Sumatran tiger in the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo has killed and eaten her two five-week-old cubs in a blow to its captive breeding program, its chief vet said Monday.The mother tiger, named Hana, had given birth to three cubs after being mated with a tiger from Germany called Avigdor, Nili Avni-Magen told AFP.

"One cub died shortly after birth but the other two were in good health. We discovered they had been killed when we went to weigh them," she said.

"We have no explanation for the behavior of the mother, who had taken good care of them at the start."

Listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, just 400 Sumatran tigers survive in the wild on the Indonesian island.

But captive breeding program have raised their number in zoos around the world to 261 from 180 in 2008. This year, 32 were born in captivity.

The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, which boasts a collection of wildlife mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, is also known for its success in breeding endangered species.

The zoo is located in the West Jerusalem neighborhood of Malha, originally a Palestinian village whose nearly 2,000 residents were expelled to refugee camps in the West Bank in 1948.

TUCSON, Arizona – Immigration authorities have chosen to put GPS ankle bracelets on the undocumented women who continue to cross the border with their young children.

Central American consular officials in Texas have noted since November that immigration authorities free most women with children that they detain at the border, but not before fastening them with an electronic ankle bracelet.

“We have seen a slight increase in mothers with children crossing the border, and what we have observed is that they are being set free after having one of these ankle bracelets clapped on them,” Allan Perez, Guatemalan consul in McAllen, Texas, told Efe

From Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, the Border Patrol detained 4,575 family units on the southern border and 5,143 unaccompanied minors, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Virginia Rice, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told Efe that the use of these electronic devices is part of ICE’s Alternatives to Detention Program.

She said they analyze case by case who should given the GPS-enabled ankle bracelets, whose use was approved by Congress in 2002.

According to ICE statistics, this program improves the likelihood of undocumented immigrants showing up in court when they’re supposed to.

Factors considered for the use of electronic monitors include the immigrant’s criminal record, humanitarian concerns and community ties.

Toward the end of March there were approximately 5,100 undocumented immigrants around the country who were being tracked with electronic ankle bracelets.

One of them is the Honduran Nelly Diaz, 29, who crossed the Texas border early this year when she was seven months pregnant and had a little 2-year-old boy.

Diaz, who came to the United States to be with the mother she hadn’t seen since she was 4 years old, remained in ICE custody for two weeks and was later freed on condition that she wore the GPS device on her left ankle.

“They didn’t want to take it off me because I supposedly had five infractions. They say I don’t wear it, but that’s because it doesn’t work properly. They have changed it three times, I never took it off, it’s uncomfortable, it’s very hot and makes me want to scratch myself,” the young woman said.

Diaz said she has to appear before the authorities every Monday and that an ICE official makes surprise visits to her home.

Attorney Alex Galvez, who handles the case of Diaz’s asylum, said that her situation is an example of the poor use of resources.

“She handed herself over to the authorities and has showed up for all her appointments. She doesn’t intend to escape, but they want it to look otherwise,” Galvez said

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government remained silent about North Korea’s accusations against President Barack Obama, whom a spokesman of the North Korean National Defense Commission compared to a “monkey” and said he forced Sony to premiere the movie “The Interview” on Christmas Day.

North Korea on Saturday blamed the United States for the repeated hacking attacks currently affecting its principal state media.

In addition, the regime led by Kim Jong-un again denied that it was behind the cyber-attack against Sony Pictures, as claimed by the White House, which believes it was a response to the film “The Interview,” a comedy about a U.S. plot to assassinate the North Korean dictator.

“If the United States wants to keep blaming us, it should offer proof as soon as possible. And if not, they could carry out an investigation with our help,” the spokesman for the North Korean National Defense Commission said.

“What would happen if someone made a movie about terrorist attacks or urged the assassination of Barack Obama? Would the U.S. keep defending freedom of speech?” the spokesman asked.

Pyongyang resorted to a more belligerent tone when saying directly that Obama “is the chief culprit who forced the Sony Pictures Entertainment to indiscriminately distribute the movie” on Christmas Day.

“Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest,” the spokesman said.

A group called the Guardians of Peace claimed responsibility for the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, and warned it would make 9/11-type terrorist attacks on theaters showing “The Interview.”

While big theater chains tended to back out, some 300 independent movie houses premiered the film on Dec. 25 and brought in a total of around $1 million, Sony said.

Obama congratulated Sony’s decision to authorize the movie’s debut, after saying several days earlier that canceling the premiere was a “mistake.”

An Assyrian church leader and two colleagues were arrested in Tehran on December 26 by the Iranian regime’s State Security Forces, a Persian language Christian website has reported.

A group of plain-clothes agents raided the home of Pastor Victor Beth, who had been repeatedly intimidated by the authorities in the past for holding Persian languages masses.

A spokesman for the 'Alliance of Iranian Churches', which unites evangelists and protestant churches, told the media: "State security forces raided the home of Pastor Victor Beth Tarmez, seized his personal belongings and transferred him to Evin prison.

"In recent years we have witnessed waves of arrests of Christians during the Christmas period."

The agents who raided the house separated the men and women who were attending the Christmas celebration, then body-searched them and confiscated their identity documents and telephones.

The agents searched the house and confiscated the Pastor’s belongings including his computer, books and mobile phones.

In recent weeks there has been numerous reports of arrests and harassment of Christians in Iran.

One report said that nine Christians were arrested in a house church in city of Roudehen, in Tehran province, in Iran on Christmas day and transferred to an unknown location.

Muslims in Libya, all members of the terrorist group Ansar al-Sharia, did a home invasion on a Coptic Christian family. They brutally murdered the father, whose name was Magdy Sobhi Tawfik, and the mother, who were both doctors. They then captured their 13 year old daughter, Katherine. Her body was found today, with two holes in her head and one in her chest. The village they lived in, Sirte, is actually under the control of Ansar al-Sharia and other Islamic terrorist groups. I did a whole video on this:

As we find out from a Coptic report, according to the medical report on the cause of death, the girl was hit by three bullets. The first went through the ear and exited the the other ear; the second hit in the front of her head and remained inside, and the third hit her in the back and exited the chest.

The clerical regime in Iran continued human rights abuses in Iran during Christmas.

At dawn of the 25th December, on Christmas day when hundred of millions of people around the world were celebrating the birth of the Christ, the barbaric regime of Iran hanged 7 people in mass execution in Shiraz.

In a message on Wednesday, December 25, on the occasion of Christmas, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, called the clerical regime masking itself by Islam as the most ruthless enemy of Christ and Mohammad that in the name of religion they splash acid on the eyes of women, hang the youth, imprison the newly Christian converts, and violate their most rudimentary rights.

They are henchmen that execute and torture people for their religious beliefs, especially for following the true message of Mohammad and Christ, and impose the worst discriminations and atrocities.

The Iranian regime’s military involvement has dramatically increased in Iraq over the past year, the Washington Post reported citing U.S., Iraqi and Iranian sources.

A senior Iranian cleric with close ties to Tehran’s leadership, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, said that since the Islamic State’s capture of much of northern Iraq in June, Iran has sent more than 1,000 military advisers to Iraq, as well as elite units, and has conducted airstrikes and spent more than $1 billion on military aid.

The Washington Post report adds: “While the departure of U.S. troops in 2011 provided space for Iran to expand its influence in Iraq, Tehran’s support for paramilitary groups has intensified since the appearance of the Sunni militant group.”

Reports of abuses by Shiite militiamen have increased in recent months, raising fears that militia death squads that helped fuel past sectarian violence are on the march.

American officials are also watching to see whether Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has the political clout to hold his unity government together and keep paramilitary forces in check.

The report by the Washington Post comes days after the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a statement that there are currently thousands of Iranian Revolutionary Guards stationed in a number of Iraqi cities to help Tehran regime to compensate its loss in Iraq after the ouster of former Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The guards that are estimated to be over 7000 are stationed in Baghdad, Diyala and Salah ad-Din provinces and the cities of Samarra, Karbala, Najaf, Khaneqain, Sa’adiyah and Jaloula. They include commanders and experts that accompany the militias in various areas of Iraq, the statement said.

Implementing ‘Smart filtering’ system does not mean that ban on already blocked websites and social networks will be removed, the government of Hassan Rouhani’s Communications and Information technology minister has said.

Mahmoud Vaezi said on Saturday that the ban on “the already blocked web sites such as Facebook and Youtube” will not be lifted.

The regime in Iran which has set up one of the strictest controls on Internet access in the world, and has blocked hundreds of thousands of websites and social networks.

Social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are routinely bypassed by tech-savvy Iranians using VPN software which disguises the physical location of Internet users. This is despite the fact that the authorities have arrested sellers and users of VPN software.

Deputy Information and Communication Technology Minister Nasrullah Jahangardi said on November 10: "The identity of everyone accessing a network must be known and anonymous users will be blocked.

"Only those having a clear identity will be allowed to use the Internet or access mobile networks. And this will be done when the transition from the IPV4 to IPV6 network is accomplished in Iran."

According to a report by Iran News Update, regime officials may be hoping that limited access to some websites will give citizens less incentive to circumvent outright bans. Alternatively, the regime may see this as an opportunity to more plausibly deny the observations of human rights groups and foreign politicians regarding Iran’s limits on free speech.

A survey by Iranian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports indicates that 69.3 percent of the country's young generation use proxy servers to by-pass the filters and access the banned Internet websites. According to one survey some four million Iranians are using Facebook.

SIDON, Lebanon: A 12-year-old Syrian boy was found dead in his house in south Lebanon Saturday, a security source told The Daily Star.

The boy, Mohammad Othman Mohammad, was found lying on the ground with a belt hanging from a ceiling and a shopping cart near him in the border village of Marwahin in the Tyre district. The source said it wasn't clear exactly how the boy had died.

Investigators summoned the father of the boy and later detained him over a warrant for his arrest on theft charges.

Security forces are looking into the circumstances behind the incident, the source said, adding that the boy was buried in the town.

- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Dec-27/282387-syrian-boy-found-dead-in-south-lebanon-home.ashx#sthash.BLeyixxD.dpuf

ANKARA: Turkish authorities say a group of Kurdish youths have clashed with supporters of a Kurdish Islamist party in southeast Turkey. Two people were killed.

The governor's office for Sirnak province says three people were also injured in the fighting that erupted in the town of Cizre, near Turkish-Syrian border, early Saturday.

Relations between the two groups have been tense since October, when Kurds - angered at what they said was Turkish impediment to efforts to defend the Syrian town of Kobani - clashed with police and the Islamist group members across Turkey. More than 30 people were killed in the rioting.

The Dogan news agency says the father of a leader of the Islamist party and a 19-year old Kurdish youth died in Saturday's clash.

- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Dec-27/282385-turkey-2-killed-in-clashes-between-rival-kurdish-groups.ashx#sthash.1C96HCwZ.dpuf

Transfer of arms to Iraq should be halted until security of Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty and other innocent civilians is guaranteed

NCRI - The Iranian Resistance welcomes the enforcement of the Global Arms Trade Treaty, as a significant step towards global peace and security and calls on the state parties to immediately halt the transfer of arms and weapons parts and components to the mullahs ruling Iran and demands the cessation of the sale or transfer of arms to Iraq until the security of Iranian opposition members in Camp Liberty, as well as other innocent civilians, is guaranteed.

The United Nations Secretary General announced on December 24 the coming into force of The Global Arms Trade Treaty nearly two years, after it was adopted by the UN General Assembly.

The treaty stipulates that the transfer of all arms and ammunition is prohibited in case they would be used for 'genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such, or other war crimes as defined by international agreements'.

The treaty emphasizes that the transferred arms should not endanger 'peace and security' or be in grave breach or facilitate the violation of International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law, and international conventions or protocols relating to terrorism and 'transnational organized crime'.

According to this treaty, the export of arms that would violate the obligations of a treaty State Party under measures adopted by the Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, in particular arms embargoes, is prohibited. In all of the above cases, the transfer of arms parts and components is also banned.

The arsenal of the clerical regime ruling Iran that is essentially filled by imports from other countries is totally employed in breach of the covenants and laws mentioned in this treaty and the export of any arms’ parts, big or small, heavy or light, to this regime violates the Arms Trade Treaty.

These arms are used for the massacre of the Iranian people, widespread arrests, suppression of popular demonstrations and protests, and collective executions, or are employed for crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, violation of international humanitarian and human rights laws inside Iran or in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. No wonder that neither the Iranian regime, nor the government of Iraq or the Assad regime joined this treaty.

Six ruthless massacres in Ashraf and Liberty, collective and arbitrary imprisonment of Iranian refugees, and a criminal siege on them, as well as the massacre of innocent Iraqi citizens in Iraq are all conducted by the arms sent to Iraq by states that are party to this treaty.

The Iranian Resistance calls on the state parties, especially the Western states, to refrain from transferring any arms to the Iranian regime and to make the sale of arms to Iraq conditional on them not being used in the massacre of the innocent, in particular the residents of Camp Liberty, and to secure and guarantee their security as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention and as political refugees.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of IranDecember 26, 2014

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Attacks on Priest Continues

Dozens of Roman Catholic priests and hundreds of parishioners marched through the southern Mexico city of Ciudad Altamirano on Wednesday to demand the release of a kidnapped priest and protest a series of kidnappings, killings and robberies of priests.

The marchers were led by Bishop Maximino Martinez and about 30 white-robed priests. They called for the release of the Rev. Gregorio Lopez Gorostieta, who apparently was kidnapped from a local seminary early Monday morning by a group of four armed persons who entered the Catholic seminary that morning.

Bishop Maximino Martinez

On Monday when the Bishop issued the call for the Wednesday march, the church also used social media to spread the message;

“To the whole people of God on pilgrimage to the diocese of Ciudad Altamirano, they are told of the disappearance of the father Gregorio Lopez Gorostieta, on the night of Sunday December 21, so at this time what is important is to unite us all in prayer with the confidence that he is okay. If anyone has information that can help locate him please call the seminar”.

In his call for the faithful to join the march, he also said called for an end to the violence in Tierra Caliente and for the release of Father Gregorio. He also said he does not think that there is any direct problem against the priests, in spite of the cases that have happened in last years, “ because we devote ourselves to serve the people either God, to preach the gospel, we do not do anything more, our work is the redemption of the person ”.

He added that "on the occasion of Christmas, it is very important that we manifest in the march that we call for peace for our country, and to set aside all this atmosphere of violence".

"Enough Already!" and "Return Father Gregorio!" read banners carried by the marchers, who sang hymns as they marched to the city's cathedral.

"Enough, is the cry of all the bishops of Mexico and the diocese. Enough of those who provoke lawlessness, corruption, impunity of complicity and indifference while all they have done to provoke violence, fear and disappearance, 'the document says.

seminary in Ciudad Altamirano, Mexico

Lopez Gorostieta's pickup truck was found abandoned and locked near the main plaza which is also near the seminary, but no blood stains were found inside. The church has filed a crime report with police, but the motive remains unclear.

"We haven't received any demand for ransom," said Martinez, who noted his diocese "has suffered a lot" from the drug cartel violence that has made the hotlands region of southern Guerrero state one of the most dangerous in all of Mexico.

At least two priests have been killed in Guerrero state this year and several others have been abducted, robbed or wounded in robbery attempts.

Iranian pastor Farshid Fathi is to spend his fourth Christmas behind bars this year after being convicted of 'acting against national security' for leading a network of underground evangelical house churches.

The 35-year-old Christian cleric is being held in the Rajai Shahr prison, near Tehran, where he shares a cell with hardened criminals, London-based public-affairs strategist Miles Windsor wrote.

Mr Windsor, who works on behalf of Christians persecuted in the Middle East, said: "This will be Pastor Farshid Fathi’s fourth Christmas in an Iranian prison, yet his fortitude, faith and indomitable spirit continues to impress and encourage.

"Pastor Fathi converted to Christianity at the age of 17. As the pastor would soon learn, Iran is a very dangerous place to worship Christ.

"The Tehran regime likes to tout its treatment of Iran’s historic Christian communities, the Armenians and Assyrians, as a testament to its tolerance.

"The mullahs reserve the most vicious treatment for Iranian Muslims, like Pastor Fathi, who have dared to convert to Christianity. Persian-language Bibles are banned in the country, and apostasy is punishable by death under Shariah law, which lies at the heart of the Iranian penal code.

"Yet to mask its naked persecution of Christian converts, the Tehran regime usually jails them on national-security charges or on the pretext that they spy for foreign powers.

"That’s what happened to Pastor Fathi. In December 2010, the father of two was arrested and arbitrarily detained in Tehran’s nightmarish Evin Prison. His 'crime' was serving as the leader of a network of underground evangelical house churches.

"After a year-long interval, during which he spent months in solitary confinement and was subjected to psychological abuse, he was convicted by a revolutionary court of 'acting against national security' and sentenced to six years."

Then in April, Pastor Fathi was one of several prisoners beaten during an attack by security forces on Ward 350 of Evin, Mr Windsor said.

He added: "His right to family visits, guaranteed under Iran’s own laws, is routinely violated. He isn’t permitted to sing Christians hymns, and prison authorities have confiscated his Bible.

"For the past few years, I have been advocating on behalf of Pastor Fathi and other Iranian Christians in Westminster and before the regime’s representatives. Though his case angers me and calls me to action, I am more often impressed and encouraged by the pastor’s fortitude, faith and indomitable spirit as they are reflected in his letters to supporters from prison.

"His latest contains a powerful Christmas message: 'Although the beauty of Christmas or the signs of Christmas cannot be found in this prison, with the ears of faith I can hear the everlasting and beautiful truth that: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel'."